I can say confidently that outside of history, the past two years have been the most challenging experience throughout our living memories, maybe birth could have been more confusing, but that's for another essay. I choose the concept of well-being and wholeness simply as a protest, focusing only on well-being, positivity and prosperity; refusing to let our feet being dragged down into the negativity bias of the World is an act of service to yourself. The most profound thing that I held onto throughout these challenging, unpredictable times was self-care. Because there is just so much to unpack when it comes to living well and aiming for wholeness. While I was typing these lines up, I got ill and had the time to reflect on what the concept of wholeness truly means to me, while facing the mortality and fragility of the human condition. Wholeness is the state of forming a complete and harmonious whole, unity. Day seven, and I am still in bed; I don't feel nor smell the beautiful temptation of the surroundings or spring, nor am I able to smell the stickiness of the distant war. So, it's time to go deeper and put the concept of well-being into practice. I needed a healer and my well-being back. This elaboration intends to discover and discuss what it means to live well in a Native context. I intend to expand on spiritual practices and their influence on Western medicine, the body-mind-spirit paradigm, and the importance of the medicine wheel. Native American perspectives on well-being must be treated on a pedestal as they contribute globally to well-being through these turbulent times and ages.

Through the eyes of Indigenous Canadian patients, a healer is recognized and respected by the community, has reconciled with Mother Earth, has self-acceptance, is free from the need for control, understands professional limitations, listens inherently and spiritually grounded (Quinn, 2019). These healers help their patients overcome the fear of change, clarify goals, and strengthen motivation. Moreover, Indigenous healing practices aim to restore the person, the community, and the nation to wholeness. There is a deep appreciation for balance and connectedness in an intimate web of relationships that encompasses oneself, mind, body, spirit, and all beings in this World (Ziwa et al., 2020). A holistic view of health is inseparable from the natural environment (Ziwa et al., 2020). Overall, characteristics of Indigenous healing strategies enlighten the multidimensionality of living well.

In response to the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call, an increasing interest arose in Indigenous healing strategies on a clinical, community and policy level (Yu, 2020). The marks of colonization, forced assimilation, cultural oppression and emotional abuse left permanent scars on health disparities in the indigenous populations across the Globe. These tragedies also opened up the need for practices that supports well-being and to become whole again. As indigenous people strive to recover from colonial trauma, they combine healing practices with an additional layer of psychosocial and spiritual boost (Yu, 2020).

Native American healers and spiritual practices have contributed to the evolution and development of global well-being and Western osteopathy. Osteopathy is a system of medical procedures based on a theory that diseases are due chiefly to loss of structural integrity, which can be restored by manipulating the parts supplemented by therapeutic measures (Merriam-Webster dictionary, 1828). Native American healing traditions emphasize a holistic approach to a balanced and fulfilling lifestyle by promoting a stable living environment among physical, mental, contextual, and spiritual factors. The body-mind-spirit paradigm is originating in Native American cultural tradition. Besides the scientific, evidence-based narratives, traditional medicine heritage has an enriching essence of providing an explanation of health in general.

Shamanism provides an optimal reflection on the patient's reality by comparing ordinary consciousness and their altered state of consciousness in a ritualic setting (Zegarra, 2019). Shamans offer a journey to embark on, from ordinary consciousness to non-ordinary consciousness through vision quest, sweat lodge, medicinal herbs, direct patient interaction, or psychological counselling, mainly acknowledging the self-healing capacity of the individual (Zegarra, 2019). According to Ede Frecska, neuroscientific explanations fail to explain therapeutic information during a shamanic healing experience (Zegarra, 2019); therefore, they offered a modality for therapeutic information processing that describes non-ordinary states. Whereas the Western healing framework is based on the cause-and-effect explanation, the traditional framework focuses on re-establishing balance. With this beautiful contribution of neuroscientific explanation, the Native American paradigm also completes Western practices.

A quadrate of well-being, also called the medicine wheel, is used in many traditions. A wheel of well-being in a traditional framework means balance is established throughout the intersections of family, culture, community, environment, history, mind, cognition, emotions, identity, physical and genetic makeup, even financial needs emphasizing spiritual teachings, which are also in alignment. The wheel's shape represents the interconnectedness of one's many aspects, including connection to the natural World. This circle of knowledge provides empowerment to one's life. The sacred circle is divided into 4 quadrats, black, white, yellow and red. In contrast, Western medicine's understanding of the human experience is based exceptionally on scientific observation and philosophies.

Indigenous Elders believe that sweat lodge ceremonies serve a sacred purpose through cleansing the body, mind, and spirit by bringing people together so they can honour the energy of life, emphasizing a connection to each other, to Mother Earth, to friends, to family, and spirit (Marsh et al., 2018). Every single person enters the lodge with their unique challenges, suffering, and concerns; the ceremonial aspect of sitting together brings balance and peace through sweating, praying, and sharing stories and songs. A study conducted by Schiff & Moore in 2006 examined 42 Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals who participated in sweat lodge ceremonies over the course of 4 months (Schiff & Moore, 2006). The study used an SF-36 quality of life scale to detect changes in the participants' quality of life and well-being. The study results showed a significant increase in spiritual and emotional well-being directly attributed to their participation (Shiff & Moore, 2006). Sweat lodge ceremonies are one among a plethora of traditional healing methods that lend themselves to hybridized treatments.

The importance of preserving and protecting comprehensive traditional healing methods is essential for our survival. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is an international instrument adopted by the United Nations on September 13, 2007, to enshrine the rights that "constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world." The UNDRIP protects collective rights that may not be addressed in other human rights charters that emphasize individual rights, and it also safeguards the rights of Indigenous people. The practices mentioned in my essay are protected by UNDRIP Article 11, which states the right to practice and revitalize cultural traditions and customs to protect past, present, and future manifestations of the ceremonies, culture, visual and performing arts (Manuel, 2015). UNDRIP Article 12 protects the rights to manifest, practice and teach indigenous spiritual and religious traditions, with customs and ceremonies. Considering that Native American traditions are mainly built upon the cultural preservation of these (w)holistic healing methodologies and practices, UNDRIP helps this precious knowledge to be safeguarded for our future and for our children.

References

Burrage, R. L., Momper, S. L., & Gone, J. P., (2021). Beyond trauma: Decolonizing understandings of loss and healing in the Indian residential school system of Canada. Journal of Social Issues. (1-26). doi: 10.1111/josi.12455

Chahar Mahali, S., Beshai, S., & Wolfe, W. L. (2020). The associations of dispositional mindfulness, self-compassion, and reappraisal with symptoms of depression and anxiety among a sample of Indigenous students in Canada. Journal of American College Health, 1-9. Doi:10.1080/07448481.2020.1711764

Duran, E. (2019). Healing the soul wound: Trauma-informed counseling for Indigenous communities. ‎Teachers College Press.

Kalayjian, A., & Eugene, D. (Eds.). (2010). Mass trauma and emotional healing around the world: Rituals and practices for resilience and meaning-making. Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice. 1(26). 440-442. doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2014.938004

Kurth, A. M., Narvaez, D., Kohn, R., & Bae, A. (2020). Indigenous nature connection: A 3-week intervention increased ecological attachment. Ecopsychology, 12(2), 101-117. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2019.0038

Manuel, A. W., Derricson, R. M., & Klein, N.P.D. (2015). Unsettling Canada: a national wake- up call. Between the Lines

Schiff, J. W., & Moore, K. (2006). The Impact of the Sweat Lodge Ceremony on Dimensions of Well-Being. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research: The Journal of the National Centre, 13(3)

Zegarra-Parodi, R., Draper-Rodi, J., Haxton, J., & Cerritelli, F. (2019). The Native American heritage of body-bind-spirit in osteopathic principles and practices. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 33, 31–37, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijosm.2019.10.007

Yu, Z., Steenbeek, A., Bilderman, M., Macdonald, M., Carrier, L., & MacDonald, C. (2020). Characteristics of Indigenous healing strategies in Canada: a scoping review. JBI Evidence Synthesis. (2512-2555) doi:10.11124/JBISRIR-2017-003942

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